The invention relates to carpet installation and to a carpet base, and more particularly to a vinyl carpet base which can be installed prior to laying the carpet and which can be left in place and reused when the carpet is changed.
Carpet bases have previously comprised either a wooden board (on top of the carpet or adjacent to the carpet edge) or, with commercial installations in particular, a flexible plastic base. One type of flexible plastic base has been a straight planar member, adhered to the wall and extending up from the floor, and against which the edge of the carpet abuts. Another typical flexible member has a flat vertical portion and a flexible concave flange extending outward from the bottom of the base in a generally horizontal direction. The plastic bases are usually of a rubber or vinyl material. After installation of the carpet, the concave or cove type base is installed in such a manner that the bottom of the flange or cove section presses down on top of the carpet causing the flange to flex outwardly somewhat while applying downward pressure on the carpet.
One problem with the described system is that, due to the design and shape of the cove type base it is generally not possible to install such a base before laying the carpet, or to leave a base in place when carpet is taken up and replaced. The flexible nature of the cove flange, and its desired position for bearing against the carpet surface render it difficult to insert the carpet underneath the cove. Also, with such a vinyl base already in place, trimming the carpet would be difficult.